What's Going on With the Massive Development in Marin?

One hundred and one pristine acres near Tiburon to be turned into apartments and a school campus.

Marin's Coyote Creek, which drains into Richardson Bay.

Remember that George Clooney movie The Descendants? Where he plays the scion of a wealthy land-owning family in Hawaii that wants to turn a major parcel of untouched wilderness into hotels and whatnot, but then, by working through dramatic family turmoil, decides at the last minute to keep it as a nature preserve?

Well, this is a story like that one, except with the exact opposite ending. And no George Clooney.

According to the Chronicle, 101 acres of more or less untouched land in Tiburon is going to be sold to a developer who will build apartments and a school campus on them. The deal "ends years of speculation and controversy over the fate of the expansive property," the paper reported. The site is currently owned by a Baptist theological seminary, which has occupied the land since 1959 and is being sold to a holding company backed by a wealthy local family.

The developer has tapped Mark Cavagnero, the San Francisco architect behind the SF Jazz Center, to build the campus.

Though Marin County has zoned the land for housing since 1984, any construction will undergo a lengthy planning and review process. At the moment, plans are to build around 100 rental units, some of which will be affordable set-asides. There will also be a school campus as well as ten acres of open space preserved. Though the deal includes 22 underwater acres, filling in the Bay is illegal.

Many nearby residents have long opposed new construction on the site, fearing the loss of open land and the impacts of increased density. No word yet if protestors opposed to the deal will start blocking the 8 bus.